City statistics – education and training

Last updated: 5 November 2024.

Highlights

This subchapter on education is 1 of 9 thematic subchapters that provide a comprehensive glossary of variable definitions used within city statistics. The glossary is designed to ensure a clear understanding and interpretation of data disseminated by Eurostat, thereby improving the clarity of data requirements for the providers of these statistics in national statistical offices, while supporting the standardisation of statistical concepts across Europe.

This subchapter forms part of Eurostat’s City statistics manual.

Pupils enrolled in early childhood education

Table 15: Pupils enrolled in early childhood education

The international standard classification of education (ISCED) is a framework developed by UNESCO to categorise and report on education statistics. ISCED ensures that data on education systems from around the world can be consistently compared and analysed. The classification was initially developed in the 1970s and was first revised in 1997 (ISCED 1997). The most recent version – ISCED 2011 – was adopted in November 2011.

ISCED 2011 has been used as the classification for the joint collection of administrative data on education systems by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat, referred to as UOE data, from school year 2012/13 onwards (see Regulation (EU) No 912/2013 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning). For a broad range of data sources (including income and living conditions, earnings and labour costs, the labour force survey and statistics on education and lifelong learning), ISCED 2011 has been used as the classification from reference year 2014 onwards (see Regulation (EU) No 317/2013 as regards the international standard classification of education).

The ISCED 2011 operational manual, prepared jointly by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the OECD and Eurostat, provides guidelines for classifying national education programmes and related qualifications according to ISCED 2011. It was developed for national statisticians reporting data on education to international organisations and for all users interested in better understanding these data.

ISCED classifies education programmes by levels, such as primary, secondary and tertiary education, and by fields of education, making detailed analyses of different aspects of education systems possible. The education levels in ISCED 2011 are covered by

ISCED 0 – early childhood education
ISCED 1 – primary education
ISCED 2 – lower secondary education
ISCED 3 – upper secondary education
ISCED 4 – post-secondary non-tertiary education
ISCED 5 – short-cycle tertiary education
ISCED 6 – bachelor’s or equivalent level
ISCED 7 – master’s or equivalent level
ISCED 8 – doctoral or equivalent level

Note: using ISCED 2011, academic and professional orientation categories can be aggregated within tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8).

The number of children aged 0–4 in day care or school (TE1001V) measures the demand for day care services for all children under the age of 5. This statistic should be computed each month and averaged across the year. It covers all children enrolled in day care institutions, whether they attend part-time or full-time: the programme must last for at least 2 hours per day and for at least 100 days per year to be included.

Day care institutions include all public or private facilities that care for children during the day, such as pre-schools, kindergartens, nursery schools or equivalent institutions (classified under ISCED 1997 level 0 and ISCED 2011 levels 01 and 02).

The data for this variable should include special schools or equivalent institutions for children with special needs (for example, those with disabilities). However, cultural, sporting or other activities undertaken primarily for leisure purposes are excluded unless they serve a childcare function. Children cared for by qualified child minders should be included if there is a direct payment or employment arrangement between the child minder and the parents. Additionally, children cared for by babysitters and au pairs should be included (again if there is some form of direct payment).

Students enrolled in higher education

Table 16: Students enrolled in higher education, by sex

The number of students in higher education (ISCED levels 5–8), by sex (TE1026V–TE1028V) provides a count of students enrolled in higher education programmes, regardless of the education delivery mechanism and whether an educational institution is public or private, nationally or foreign-owned. The coverage of these variables extends to all types of students and age groups (see Regulation (EC) No 452/2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning).

Data on students in higher education are location-specific. When reporting, students must be counted based on the specific location where they study, rather than the legal address of the university. This is particularly important for universities with multiple campuses in different cities. If precise data by location are unavailable and estimates can’t be made, this should be noted in the metadata. In such cases, it’s possible to divide the total count of students by the number of cities hosting the university’s campuses and/or departments. This method should be documented in the metadata, and the data should be flagged with ‘d’.

Online students should only be included if they meet the following criteria

they are enrolled in programmes offered by universities or similar establishments located within the reported city
their programmes constitute at least 1 semester of full-time study
they follow college-based or combined college- and work-based programmes
their programmes are recognised as formal education by the relevant national education authority
their education is provided by public or private colleges, polytechnics, universities or other post-secondary institutions
they are studying either full-time or part-time in formal education (with part-time students counted according to a measure of time equivalence)
their formal education may be provided by institutions organised by an education ministry or by another ministry (for example, health, agriculture, social affairs or defence).

Population, by educational attainment level

Table 17: Population, by educational attainment level

The number of people aged 25 to 64 years, by their highest level of education (TE2025V, TE2028V and TE2031V) are counts of people based on educational attainment. Each individual in the age range of 25 to 64 years is classified to 1 of 3 groups, covering

people with no more than a lower secondary level of educational attainment (ISCED levels 0–2; a low level of education)
people with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED levels 3 or 4; a medium level of education)
people with a tertiary level of educational attainment (ISCED levels 5–8; a high level of education).

Legislation in force and other documents

Source data for tables and graphs

City statistics manual 2024: tables and figures

Explore further

Database

City statistics (urb), see:

Cities and greater cities (urb_cgc)

Functional urban areas (urb_luz)

Perception survey results (urb_percep)

Thematic section

Regions and cities

Publications

Urban Europe – Statistics on cities, towns and suburbs

Methodology

External links

Visualisation

Regions and Cities Illustrated (RCI)